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ENVIRONMENT

MSC has a deep-seated commitment to minimising the impact of global freight upon the environment.

At MSC we care deeply about the environment, we know that the cargo we carry can be dangerous, that the ships can pollute, that the oceans are not infinite.
That’s why we are proud of our long-term commitment to safety and the environment.

A key business goal is to reduce greenhouse emissions and refocus on the key elements we can control – the cargo and the ships.

Cargo control

The containers we transport carry a huge variety of cargoes and we know it’s vital for us to remain vigilant in order to avoid any incidents and subsequent pollution or threats to safety. Many containers are loaded with dangerous cargo and / or types of potentially volatile cargo that are incompatible with others. That’s why MSC is so stringent in ascertaining;

The cargo type;

The cargo weight;

The cargo distribution on-board the vessel.

Every single container is planned for perfect stowage to reduce the possibility of incidents. We know that when transporting chemicals, for example, extra care has to be taken to avoid leakages or fires.

There are very strict rules on how the ship has to be loaded according to the type of cargo – particularly when it comes to dangerous cargo. That’s why MSC developed a brand new stowage system, the Intelligent Planning Exchange system (IPX). It plans and stows dangerous cargo automatically eliminate the possibility of human error.

We have also implemented systems to verify the cargo weight – combating the rise in undeclared cargo weight, which can have significant impact on stowage and cargo safety.

Fast, decisive, expert intervention

In those rare cases where a cargo incident does take place, MSC acts quickly to take control. Incidents can occur due to use of incorrect packaging, bad packaging or packaging that is not compliant with the regulations. Whatever the root cause, we immediately dispatch one of our eight worldwide emergency rescue teams who are experts in handling dangerous cargo and dangerous situations.

We notify other carriers through the Cargo Incident Notification System (CINS), which we helped create. CINS provide industry-wide notifications with the aim to reduce the potential of future incidents. We go to the scene of the problem and we deal with it very effectively, very quickly and very efficiently. Through swift action we minimise the risks of contamination and any associated threat to human life or the environment.

Vessel design and operation

The other key factor we control are the ships: their size, design and technology. We are investing heavily in modern eco-friendly ship design and building much more fuel-efficient ships. Shipping remains the most CO2 friendly way of transporting cargo; the bigger the ship, the less the emission per ton of transported cargo.

At MSC our own specialised technical research team in Sorrento, Italy, constantly develops and implements innovative technologies to reduce our environmental impact. For example, the shape of the ship is key to improving fuel efficiency and our newly optimised hull design will be introduced to all our vessels.

MSC vessels use powerful but very fuel efficient engines, in fact MSC’s new generation of ships ranks at the top when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions. This is independently verified by port authorities.

We install the latest equipment, like oil water separators, to eliminate water pollution from engine oil. The water going overboard from our vessels is clean to the point of being drinkable!

Only tin-free paint is used for the hulls of our ships to minimise marine pollution, and in order to monitor all our combined efforts we have recently developed the MSC Eco Toolbox. The eco tool box has different types of utilities and vessel performance checks that enable us to measure their energy-use efficiency and fuel-consumption.

In fact MSC has been recognised by the ports of the California green flag initiative as a leader in emission control four years in a row. MSC embraces its responsibilities towards the environment. We’re continually seeking innovative solutions to deliver tangible improvements to our already market-leading eco-standards.